The Second Adventure
by InusPrincess
Summary: Chihiro has drempt of the same thing for years: A beautiful free place and a boy, a boy who seems to mean something to her. What happenes when she sees him again, but this time not in a dream?
1. Chapter One

Okay this is an idea I have for a new fan fiction. I don't think this chapter is very good because I have been writing it at school... yeah anyway it is of course, about Spirited Away. I got the idea for it after I watched the trailer for Miyazaki's new movie, "Howl's Moving Castle." I hope you enjoy this story! It is the first fanfic that I have written that is not Inuyasha themed.

CHAPTER ONE

The day was hot and muggy as I stepped outside onto the small covered porch. The once light blue paint on the house and porch was pealing and chipped from age. The hedges that ran along the short path to the sidewalk were neatly trimmed and a line of flowers ran along the sidewalk until the next yard began.

I readjusted my bag on my shoulder before leaving the shade of the porch and walking quickly to the street where I then turned right and made my way to the school at the bottom of the slope.

Looking ahead I could see my friend already walking in front of me. "Hey Risa! Wait for me!" She turned around and stopped walking, waiting for me to catch up with her. "Why didn't you wait for me this morning?"

"I did but you were late so your mom told me to just go ahead and go so I don't make myself late." She explained. "What were you doing that was taking so long anyways?"

"I couldn't find my math book and I still can't." I groaned.

Risa faked terror, "Mr. Takashi is going to be so mad! This is the second time this week you have forgotten your book. Get it together girl!"

"I know, but I've just really been out of it lately."

"Maybe you're not getting enough sleep." she suggested.

"Trust me that's not the problem. All I have wanted to do is sleep. I'm always tired and I keep finding myself staring off into space. I can't concentrate on my homework at all either. My grades are slipping and Dad says that if I don't get them up he's going to put me in summer school!"

"Why didn't you tell me all this before? I can help you with your homework and assignments. Then your grades will be better and no summer school." She said.

I looked at her and smiled; she smiled back. "You would really do that for me?"

"Chihiro, why do you think I hang out with you everyday? It's not for my health."

We walked the rest of the way to school together as we did everyday since I moved to this town. Our school was not far, only about seven blocks or so and the walk there was not hard since it was all down hill. It was coming home that we dreaded. Walking up the steep hill with a backpack full of books was not fun or easy to do.

That afternoon, once I was home from school, Risa and I went to my room where we then turned the place upside down looking for my lost math book. As Risa predicted, Mr. Takashi was angry with me for my "incompetence" to be ready for his class. He punished me by doubling my homework amount that night, which was terrible because he assigned too much as it was.

"I found it!" Risa called from under my bed. I saw her wiggle and squirm trying to get out. "Hey I'm stuck! Help!" I laughed and grabbed hold of her ankles and pulled her free. She started coughing and wiping dust from her clothing. "You need to start cleaning out under your bed. It's terrifying under there!"

After she considered herself clean enough from my dust bunny collection we sat down on the bed and started on our homework. Even though she didn't have to, Risa did the second assignment, which was given to me as punishment, as well so that she could help me with the problems. Math was not my best subject but I could do it depending on what subject we were on at the time.

We also had some homework to finish in History and Astronomy too. Once all was finished my mom came in to tell Risa that her mother had just called and wanted her home for supper. "I'll see you tomorrow Chihiro." she called as she left the room with her bag and books.

"Chihiro you need to clean your room. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes so straighten this place up and come down." My mom said as she followed Risa out. Reluctant to do so, I did at least make my bed and stack my books on my desk before heading downstairs to eat.

I have had the same dream for years now. Sometimes it varies as to what I'm doing in the dream, or whom I'm with, but it is always in the same general place with the same group of people. I've told my mom about it but she says it's nothing more than a dream, but why would I always dream the same? It doesn't make any sense. Risa thinks it's a sign of something to come. Of course she has a habit of making huge deals out of nothing.

My dream now was no different that last night, or the night before that, or any other nights for the past seven years. I am standing in a field of long grass and wildflowers. It so beautiful and everything looks free. There are no restrictions or limitations, just rolling hills of fresh green as far as the eye can see and then a small line of trees on the horizon. There is an empty rocky bank where it looks like a river once flowed but now has just a few trickles of water.

Sometimes when I dream I am in this place I am alone, other times I am with somebody. I don't know who they are and it's almost always a different person each time except for the rare occasion when I see the boy. I have dreamt of him many times in the dreams but he never speaks to me or looks at me. I would see him walking far ahead of me in the field, or I would turn around and he would be there and then he would be gone again.

Sometimes when I see him he is standing at the foot of a big bridge. He turns to cross the bridge and I try to follow him but the bridge but I become surrounded by a thick fog and become lost. I try to yell for him, yet I don't know his name. Then I wake up in my bed.

That night though, the dream was different...

I looked around and saw that I was on the edge of the dry river, except now it is not so dry. Water is slowly coming down it, each second bringing more and more with it. The river began to fill up and I was forced to back away or be swept away in the now heavy current. As I backed away the water began to come even faster and I was forced to run. As I ran I heard the rushing sound of the water die behind me but I kept going. I didn't want to stop. Finally it came into view, the bridge. I didn't stop then either; I made my way onto the bridge and was enveloped in the fog. Soon I couldn't see but I continued on, walking rather than running. 

_It seemed like a long time, and I thought I would never reach the other side when I heard my footsteps change. No longer were they the sound of thumping on wood. I was on stone, some sort of path. The fog cleared out slightly to where I was able to see a little in front of me. Looking ahead I saw him again, this time closer that any time before. His mouth moved and, even though no sound came out, I knew what he was saying to me, 'Come back. Come back Chihiro.' Then he the fog swallowed him once more and I was alone again._

The next morning I woke up confused. "Come back? Back to where?" I asked myself as I pulled the blankets off and slid out of bed. I was happy at least that it was Saturday. No school today, which meant Risa would be over at ten just like she has been every Saturday for the past five years. I put on my house shoes and stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen where I poured myself some cereal.

The next hour and a half was spent watching TV and eating. I didn't think anything more about the dream. I was use to having odd dreams and found no reason to tell anybody about it.

At precisely ten I heard a knock at the door. "Come in Risa!" The door opened and she came running in, almost falling as she tried to take her shoes off at the door.

"Chihiro! We have to get down to the mall!" She cried as she plopped down on the sofa next to me. She was huffing as she tried to catch her breath. My guess was that she had run all the way from her house, about three blocks away.

"Why?"

"Because today is the grand-opening of that new store we've been wanting to check out! Don't you remember? You've been raving about it all week."

The thought struck me like lighting. "Oh I can't believe I forgot about that! Wait, let me get dressed and we'll go okay?" I jumped up from the couch and ran upstairs. I rummaged through my closet and grabbed a purple knee-length skirt and a white short-sleeved shirt. My nightclothes were tossed in the corner with the though that I needed to do my laundry soon. Finally I grabbed my money out of the jar I kept on my desk and stuffed it into my purse.

About a half hour later Risa and I were just making it into the mall. It was large, two-story, and the most popular place to hang out. There was even a built in theater next to the food court.

The new store was on the other side so we walked past and window-shopped in many different stores on the way. My favorite place to look was the antique shop. There were always all kinds of little goodies and knick-knacks that I loved to buy. My room was filled with little old figurines and such things that I had bought at yardsales and auctions. I would have never been able to afford anything in the antique shop though, but still, it never hurt to look.

"Hey look over there." I turned to see where Risa was pointing. It was the new store and there was a gigantic crowd around the front door. "I think we had better wait until later when it quiets down..."

"Yeah. Let's go get something to eat. I'm craving pizza." We both laughed and turned into the food court where there were at least three different pizza parlor choices. We picked Godfather's and while Risa ordered the pizza I found a clean table to sit at.

As I sat down something caught my eye. Looking over I saw a guy, about my age, and he was staring strait at me. For a minute I was startled, then my mind cleared and I noticed why he looked so odd to me.

"Hey Chihiro. What is it?" Risa said as she walked back with the food in hand.

"Him," I said.

She followed my gaze. "Him? Whose he?"

"He's the boy in my dreams..."


	2. Chapter Two

Woo! Chapter two already! Took me about an hour to write so please forgive any bad grammar and such things. If you were hoping for this chapter to clear up the confusion from the ending of the last one, you are going to be disappointed.

CHAPTER TWO

Risa didn't show much of a reaction to my news. "Are you sure? I mean it was only a dream Chihiro. Here take your pizza." Rather than do so I continued to stare at the boy, and he did the same to me. He was easy to recognize. His hair was straight, cut long, and a deep dark color and his eyes were full of mystery. You could look into them and fall into a trance with no hope of returning to your own world. "Chihiro!" Risa said loudly to get my attention. I jerked and looked up at her and took my coke a pizza. When I looked back, he was gone. I looked around and tried to find him but was unsuccessful.

"Are you positive that it was the guy in your dreams?" Risa asked now, seemingly now with interest. I sipped some of my coke. "I'm positive. It was him I'm sure of it."

"This is really weird you know? You having the same dream for years and then suddenly seeing they guy whom you dream about... You always have been the lucky one." she sighed.

"I wouldn't call this 'lucky' Risa. What does it mean?"

"I don't know. I'm not one of those psycho-freaks who can tell the future and interpret dreams." She stated. "Hey you're not eating your pizza." I looked down at my full slice. I hadn't even taken one bite of it yet.

"I'm sorry but I really don't feel hungry anymore Risa."

She gave an agitated sigh, "Fine then let me have it. I paid for this food and I won't let it go to waste." I laughed and passed her the paper plate with my pizza but I kept my coke, sipping some every now and then while I waited for Risa to finish up.

As we walked out of the food court we notice that the crowd had died down some around the new store but it was still really busy. "I don't think we're going to get in there today Chihiro..." I nodded in agreement. As we left the mall I continued to look around for the boy.

It was odd when I saw him, or rather, when we saw each other. I was just staring at him, something I would never do to a person. It is rude. For some reason though, I was locked in his gaze and it looked like he was too. I was swimming in his eyes and, if Risa hadn't brought me back to reality, I know I would have gone over to him. He was looking at me so strangely. As if he had found something he had been looking for forever. His face was bright when our eyes first met but soon after he saddened, as if he had just realized something terrible. Something that he wished he could prevent, or maybe I was just reading too much into it. Maybe it wasn't even really the guy in my dreams and just a meaningless stranger.

I let Risa lead me around town that day, doing whatever she wanted. My thoughts where elsewhere so I couldn't care less which movie we watched or how annoying it was that the old-fashioned soda shop was closed that day. Eventually we made our way into the city park. It wasn't big but small was not the word for it. There were swings and teeter-totters, a merry-go-round and slides of different heights, and a small sandbox, which was at the moment filled with small children.

We sat on a bench and Risa started to eat the ice cream cone that I had apparently bought her. "Hey Chihiro, are you okay? You have been really spaced out." She asked me.

"I'm fine Risa, just tired I guess. Thanks for asking though." I said monotonously.

"I think I need to get you home. You don't look too good," she put her hand to my forehead, "and I think you may have a fever. Maybe there was something in the pizza..."

"Risa, you ate my pizza." She looked thoughtful for a moment before laughing. "Hah! Well I did didn't I? Nevertheless you need to get home. Come on." She was already standing and helping me up because I didn't feel like I had the strength do to it myself. We started to walk but it was hard, my legs felt like rubber and I stumbled continuously until Risa put my arm over her shoulders and her arm around my waist and helped me walk. "Thanks Risa. You're a good friend."

"Yeah well, just don't cough on me or anything okay? I don't want to get sick." I made a small laugh.

I remember getting to my house and Risa helping me onto the couch and covering me up with one of the throws. "Stay here and try to sleep. Do you want the TV on?" I shook my head. "Okay well I'm your mom and dad aren't home so I'm going to see if I can get your mom on her cell phone but first I need the thermometer."

Five minutes later she was back, thermometer in hand. It was good that we owned one of the kind that you stick in your ear because I wasn't moving for anything; I just lay there with my eyes closed. I must have had a bad temperature because it caused Risa to sigh heavily. She walked away and I heard her on the phone with my mom before passing out.

"_Chihiro…" I felt somebody shaking my shoulder, "Chihiro wake up. Please you must wake up." I opened my eyes. The field was all around me and I was in a soft patch of green grass. Slowly I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes with my fists. "Chihiro…" I looked around to find who it was but saw nobody. I stood and started to walk slowly, though I had no clue where I was going. "Chihiro… You must hurry. You must come. You must…" I followed the sound of the voice. _

_I knew, somehow, whom the voice belonged to but I wasn't thinking about that then. All I wanted to do was find its source. It continuously called out my name as I followed it. After what seemed like an hour I finally started to see the outline of a building ahead of me; the small peaks of tower on the horizon. "Chihiro…" I started to run, slightly at first, but then filled with more need and desire to reach the building. I knew that had to be where the voice was coming from._

_The building was closer now and I could make out its red colored walls from the surrounding trees and foliage. The voice still continued to call for me; just now it seemed more demanding, as if I had to make it to the building. It was pushing me on forward. I soon slowed to a walk and finished the short distance. _

_Then I just stood there, staring at the massive structure I was before. In front of me was a long, dark tunnel. I could see no light coming from it at all and as I looked I suddenly felt the wind blowing strongly against my back, encouraging me to go forward. "Chihiro… Come, quickly, before it's too late and you miss your chance." The voice, to my surprise, was coming from the entrance to the tunnel. "NO!" I yelled, finding my voice for the first time. Suddenly everything went black._

I awoke the next morning covered in sweat at breathing heavily, as if I couldn't catch my breath. For a moment or two I was just quiet. I tried to put my thoughts together. Never had my dreams been like that, and it scared me. What scared me the most though, was that I knew where the red building was. I had been there before, once when I was much younger and I knew how to get there from my house. There was a way there by road and I remember that it was a long and twisted path.

Something about the dream made me want to go there. I wanted to know why the voice wanted me there. What was so important? I folded the covers back and slid out of bed. I remembered falling asleep on the couch downstairs so I figured that my dad had carried me up after he had got home. I grabbed some clean clothes and made my way to the bathroom where I filled the tub with hot water and soap. I still didn't feel too well and baths always made me better it seemed.

I decided then that that evening I would set out for the tunnel and see why it was so important. I wanted and needed to know.


	3. Chapter Three

I have been updating rather quickly for this story haven't I? Well I spend my whole computer class (1 hour 40 mins) with nothing to do so I work on this. I hope you like this chapter and I'm sorry for all the cliffies I've been leaving you with... well not really. They build up the suspense for the next chapter and keep you reading. Oh and sorry but this chapter is slightly shorter than the others.

CHAPTER THREE

It only took me ten minutes to reach the road from my house. I look ahead of myself to the overgrown path as I tightened my ponytail and then put on a cap, pulling my ponytail through the hole in the back. I started off inside.

The road was once dirt and easily able to pick out, but now it was covered in grass and bushes and flowers. It was sometimes hard for me to pick out where the road was and I wandered in a few circles until I was able to find the path again.

As I made my way I notices small things about the area, like how there no animals. Normally you would at least hear a bird off somewhere but there was nothing. The only sound was that made my by feet as the crunched the grass and twigs. Another thing I noticed was how dark the forest was here. It seemed as if the canopy of the trees completely blocked off the light, which made me wish I had at least brought a flashlight with me.

After noticing the silence, it became nerve-racking. A few times I was fully willing to turn back and go home, because this place was scaring me so much. Finally after twenty more minutes, I started to see a glimpse of the red building through the trees.

The second my eye caught it I froze. Did I really want to go there? Was it safe? I backed up a step, now actually trying to turn around and leave, when the wind came up behind me. It blew me forward, urging me on. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and started to move forward again.

The small road curved a bit and then I was there, standing before the red building once again. I remember how old it looked when I was younger but now it was ancient. I was surprised that there was still any paint left on it at all.

I sat down on the ground to rest and gather my thoughts. It was a long walk, a mile or two into the forest. I remembered that nobody knew I was here. My parents thought I was out with friends, so I couldn't stay long. I needed to be home before it became dark out or else I would be in trouble.

I drank some water from the bottle I had carried with me before putting it back in my small back. I hadn't brought much with me. Only water, a small lunch, and a blanket. I wasn't sure why I would need a blanket but I had taken it anyways. Just in case, I thought.

After a little while I pushed myself back up onto my legs and started toward the tunnel's entrance. I was scared to go in but I had a feeling like I had to. Plus every time I tried to turn away the wind started to push be back, so my choices were limited; stay here or go in and see what was there.

The tunnel was long, very long. So long that when in the middle you couldn't even see because it was so dark. I really wished I had brought that flashlight. A few times I tripped over a rock or stone or sometimes my own foot. I walked with my hands on the wall, following it.When I saw the light at the other side I sped up and ran, wanting to get out of the darkness.

I came out into the field. The sun was sighing brightly overhead and the long grass was flowing around me in the wind so that it resembled the sway of the ocean. I continued forward along an old path that led up a hill. Once up top a shocking sight greeted me.

Before me lay the dry river.

I looked around a bit, trying to see if there was anything else I could recognize, when the wind decided I was being to slow and pushed me forward once more. "All right, all right! I'm going." I yelled to it and it stopped, almost as if it had heard me.

The river was easy enough to cross, just jumping from rock to rock until you hit the other side. I looked behind me and could just see the top of the red tower behind me, hidden by the hill. Turning forward I was suppose to go up even more, so I started up the stone steps.

I hiked into a city like area. Actually it looked more like a festival. Everything was decorated colorfully. The buildings were covered in brightly colored paints and fabrics and lights. What struck me as odd, though, was that they all looked closed.

Passing shop after shop, I realized that none of them were open. Every few times I would stop and yell out for somebody, seeing if anyone was around. Five minutes of this proved pointless and so I just continued on my way, following the wind as it led me through the streets until it suddenly stopped.

I looked around confused until my eyes settled on a glimpse of shining gold. I set off toward it and was slowly closed in by a thick fog. "Just like in my dreams..." I walked forward and soon heard the sound of my footsteps on wood. The fog was so thick that it was hard to even see my hand in front of my face.

I continued on forward until I was off of the bridge and on the stone pathway. I had never passed this point in my dreams. I moved a bit more along the path when the wind hit my side hard and pushed me over. I tumbled and tried to grab out at something when my hand found some sort of rail. I held on tightly as the wind continued to blow. My hat almost blew off but was still caught with my ponytail in it. Gradually, I noticed, the fog was being blown away and my vision becoming more and more clear even thought the wind was making it hard to see.

The wind then started to die down with a low moaning sound. All the fog, except for the few wisps still at my feet, was gone. Facing me now was a large building. It looked many stories tall and covered with windows everywhere. The bridge's path lead straight to the front doors, which were huge and made of wonderfully, polished wood.

"What is this place?" I thought out loud, not expecting an answer from anyone.

"It's a bath house, for the spirits."

I turned around sharply at the voice. He was behind me, not far away but still on the bridge. I recognized him immediately as the boy in my dreams, the one who had called for me to come here. He was smiling slightly at me before letting out a small laugh. "Hello again, Chihiro."


End file.
